Story Highlights

INDIANAPOLIS — They say scoreboard watching can be dangerous, but the Colts didn't care. For them, it was motivation — especially in the fourth quarter.

Each time Matt Eberflus' unit took the field in the final period, cornerback Quincy Wilson reminded them what they were playing for: The zero.

"When you’re in the fourth quarter, when there’s a zero on that board, you want to keep that," Leonard said following the Colts' 23-0 throttling of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. "Quincy Wilson came up every time on the field saying, 'Keep the shutout. Keep the intensity up.'"

"And to get it feels great," Leonard added in a locker room that only minutes before media was allowed in was filled with players dancing, singing and screaming. "For a defense, to see a zero on that board, it’s great. It’s what you fight for. They can’t get it, they can’t win, it's that simple."

Making their accomplishment all the sweeter was that it came against a team with a pair of the top playmakers in the league. Ezekiel Elliott entered the game as the ferocious league leader in rushing while wide receiver Amari Cooper seemed to have unlocked the Dallas offense since arriving from Oakland via trade.

But neither made a difference against the Colts. Sure, Elliott gained some traction on the ground (87 yards on 4.8 yards per carry) but when it mattered most -- like on a fourth-and-1 from the Colts' 5-yard-line -- the defense rendered him moot.

Meanwhile, a week after throwing the Cowboys offense on his back against Philadelphia, Cooper was practically invisible Sunday.

0

Yes, it's the number of points the Cowboys scored, but it's also the number of touchdown passes Andrew Luck threw in what was probably the Colts' most dominant victory of the season. Who'd have thought, even a couple months ago, the Colts were capable of such a thing? An unstoppable ground game? An unbreakable defense? They've transformed into a complete football team seemingly overnight, and even more, they've become a team no one is going to want to play come January.

1

Interception to seal the shutout.

Marlon Mack's late fumble threatened to derail the Colts' efforts to pitch their first shutout since 2014, but George Odum wasn't going to let that happen. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott let rip an errant pass that skipped off Blake Jarwin's outstretched hands and into the body of a diving Odum.

It was not only the first INT of the undrafted rookie's career but the first pick for the Colts in four games.

2

Tyquan Lewis sacks.

The first two of the rookie's career had him at loss for words after the game.

"I can’t even explain it," Lewis said with a smile as his mentor, Jabaal Sheard, looked on proudly from the next locker over. "It’s just a rush through the body. The first one … I can’t even explain it. It was just a huge rush."

Each passing week, it seemed Lewis was sniffing around it, getting closer and closer to what had proven so elusive to him through his first games of the season. So when Lewis grabbed hold of Prescott's jersey in the first quarter, there was no way in the world he was letting go.

"Once I grabbed him, I was taking him down with me," Lewis said. "I know if I get a grip on somebody, he’s coming down. I know that for a fact."

(Three was also the number of consecutive games Dak Prescott had played with a passer ratting above 100.0. He registered a 64.7 against the Colts).

4

Number of times the Colts forced the Cowboys to turn the ball over on downs.

Dallas only punted twice, but it finished 1-of-5 on fourth-down conversions (20 percent), well below it's season average of 64.3 percent. Among the most critical fourth-down stops, the one that set the tone for the game, Reich said, was the Colts' stuff of Elliott on fourth-and-1 to begin the second quarter.

"That was huge," Reich said. "That was just huge. Zeke doesn't get stopped too many times in that situation. I don't know what the numbers are, but I remember looking at some number and seeing: He doesn't get stopped in that situation. Huge play. Between the blocked field goal and that stop, that really created the momentum for the game."

Leonard considered it a slap in the face that the Cowboys would even consider going for it in that situation.

"Fourth-and-1 in that spot, we thought they'd kick a field goal," Leonard said. "So that's kind of slap in our face, so we wanted to prove we were ready."

Mission accomplished.

7

Cowboys drives into Colts territory.

You already know how each one of those drives ended: without points. Think that doesn't suck the life out of an offense? You better believe it does, said Luck.

"The Cowboys put some long drives together, and to not get points out of those is demoralizing for an offense," Luck said. "Our defense just stiffened it up in big situations -- on third downs and fourth downs. They did a heck of a job. Certainly the defense carried the torch today."

11

Tackles by Darius Leonard.

It was just one of the numbers that rendered the much-ballyhooed heavyweight fight between the top two contenders for the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Leonard and Dallas' Leighton Vander Esch, a mismatch.

Leonard, who also broke Jerrell Freeman's Colts rookie record for tackles in a season (145), not only registered more total tackles that Vander Esch (8) but more solos (9-7), more tackles for loss (1-0) and more pass deflections (2-0). Oh, and he also stole the Cowboys linebackers' signature celebration en route to helping his team pitch a shutout. K.O.

15

Bill Parcells was still the Cowboys coach; George W. Bush was serving his first term, and, to stick with the Texas theme, the Houston Texans were in just their second year of existence.

32

Yards for Amari Cooper.

After obliterating the Philadelphia Eagles for 217 yards and three touchdowns last week, Cooper was bottled up all day against the Colts. Pierre Desire and Co. held him to just 32 yards on four catches. He was only the Cowboys' fourth-leading receiver, though no Dallas pass-catcher went for more than 45 yards (Jarwin).

66,654

Sunday's paid attendance.

It was the best-attended game at Lucas Oil Stadium since Peyton Manning paid his final visit to the House That He Built back in 2015. Sure there were a lot of Cowboys fans on hand, but by the fourth quarter, you wouldn’t have known it. If they hadn’t already abandoned their team, they sat in their seats quietly waiting for their misery to end.